Virtually Yours
by Dairi
Summary: Oliver and Roy wake up in the middle of clearing, in medieval clothing. The last thing they can remeber is that they were on a mission. And the whole team had been on it, all four of them. What is going on, and more importantly, where are Diggle and Felicity? Not to mention... who is behind all this, and how will they get home?
1. Chapter 1

So. This idea...came to me somewhat out of no where, I liked it, and so ran with it. It has taken me a long time to get this far - so much so I feared I'd never be able to even post. I can't promise faithful updates but I will promise to update this on probably late Wednesday or early Thursday of next week. If anyone is around to read it, and if you are I thank you very, very much.

The timeline here, where it would fall in the show...uhh, I have no idea, but let's say Oliver has been through the League (vague mentions of it) but, Raylicity never really happened but nor did any kind of a date or anything happen between our favorite couple. (Oliver is still being blissfully clueless to his own feelings, ect) This is total Olicity endgame, tho, so no worries.

So, if you endured to read this, much kudos to you and thank you! Hope you enjoy reading!

* * *

The first thing that Oliver had become aware of upon awakening was the hard-packed earth beneath him. He was lying on open ground, in the dirt; was he on the island again? Had he actually been dreaming this whole time, or was he in a dream right now? No, his senses were telling him that this was no dream - he could feel the sun on his face...the grass beneath his finger tips...and he could hear someone breathing very nearby. His eyes shot open.

"Oh thank God." It was Roy, hovering over him with a look of pure relief settling over his features. "'Cause I will admit to being a little freaked out right now." And then Oliver's eyes trailed over Roy's person, to make sure he wasn't hurt, because what could have...made Roy...freak out like-

"What," Pause. Oliver's brows were scrunched in confusion as he tried to make sense of what his eyes were telling him. "Are you wearing?" He finished, not even able to complete his earlier thought. It looked like a suit of chainmail on the younger man. A look of terror crossed Roy's face, his mouth falling open but no sound came out. Then, he snapped his mouth shut, cast his eyes over Oliver's form and, rather indignantly replied with,

"Well, you're not much better!"

Oliver's attention snapped down to the clothing he wore, and sure enough, it was...a bit different from his usual. It was actually not too dissimilar to his dark outfit when he'd been going undercover in the League of Assassins, only much lighter weight, fit closer to his frame, and no hood or tassels. Instead, there was a dark green overlay in a V-shape down his chest and when he turned his head to look, the dark green extended down his arms to the elbow, also apparently reaching up to the inside collar of his coat, but he could hardly tell from this angle. Coming to terms with what he was now wearing but having no memory of putting it on nor any idea of what any of this meant, he slowly stood up and made a visual sweep of their surroundings.

They appeared to be in a small clearing in the woods somewhere, he and Roy the only only ones around. Somewhere that, he could tell from the climate, was not the island. Comforting as that may be, he still had no idea where they actually were. Very interesting. At length, Oliver turned his attention back to Roy. Something else that was really very odd then came to his notice. Both he and Roy seemed to be armed, with both swords as well as bow and arrows. So, if an enemy had taken them and plopped them out in the middle of no where, why would they be armed?

"What's the last thing you remember?" Oliver inquired as he considered the question himself, right hand absently coming to cover the hilt of his sword.

"Last thing I remember before waking up here - next to a horse, by the way - we were in Starling...infiltrating a building, clearing a path for..." Roy trailed off, eyes widening as his gaze snapped to Oliver's.

"We'd just given Digg the green light to bring Felicity in, to hack into their servers." Oliver whispered, suddenly feeling his throat close up. If he and Roy were here, then where were Felicity and Digg? They had to have been in the building when whatever went down happened. He certainly hoped they had not been swept up into whatever was going on here, but Oliver had faced enough in his lifetime to not bet on the most hopeful outcome. But if they were here somewhere, then...well, where were they now?

The thought of Felicity being in danger of any kind, possibly alone...did not sit well with him, not at all.

"We need more information," Oliver growled and started to move forward. Roy hurried behind him, not wanting to be left alone right now with all this weirdness.

"Wait! We're just gonna wander around? We have no idea what's out there!"

"Exactly, which is why we need to find out." Oliver spoke and then came to an abrupt halt, spinning on Roy as the teen almost ran into him. "Wait. You said you woke up next to a horse?"

"Uh...yeah. Over there." Roy answered, waving in the general direction to the right of them. Oliver nodded and then took off in that direction, hoping to come upon some clues. If not, then at least they'd have some means of transportation. For one of them, anyway.

"Wait, wait, wait! There could be...anything, in those woods. There could bears, lions...ogres..." Roy called out, hurriedly following after the older man and then falling into step next to him. Oliver rose an eyebrow and gave him a 'look.'

"Ogre?"

"Yeah, like a troll. They're from..."

"I know what they are, Harper." Oliver interrupted whatever explanation the boy had been about to give. Roy shrugged and continued with,

"Well, all I'm sayin' is we have no idea what's goin' on here, so we probably shouldn't be wanderin' too far off." Roy said, crossing his arms like the defiant yet scared 19 year old that he was.

"We will wander as far off as it takes to find our friends." Was Oliver's immediate response. Roy snorted, causing Oliver to glance over at him again while stepping over a tree root. "What?" Oliver gripped, seeing a disbelieving look upon Roy's face.

"Friends, huh? So you're still not admitting that Felicity-"

Before Oliver could decide whether to deny what the young lad was implying or ignore him all together, the thick underbrush to their left came alive. It sounded as if something big was stomping its way ever closer, the trees swaying and the ground shaking ever so slightly.

"Ogres." Roy whispered, unsheathing his sword and standing at the ready. Oliver took a step back, eyes never leaving the brush, and although he did not draw his sword his hand was still on the hilt, ever ready. The two shared a silent look as the noise got louder and louder, and they could almost hear the creature growling now. Possibly...muttering to itself?

That still did not prepare either man for what came stomping out from the bushes.

* * *

Meawhile, well beyond the borders of that particular forest, there lay a castle. In said castle, there was a blonde woman only now starting to wake, a throbbing headache preventing her from slumbering any longer. She lifts a hand to her head in an attempt at soothing the throbbing there in her temples, when her hand comes into contact with something cold, pointy and metallic. Instantly awake because What is on her Head, she quickly sits up, both hands lifting towards the top of her head to investigate what was going on when her lowered gaze hones in on the material covering her body. A golden dress, with possible actual gold woven into the fibers because it looked Really expensive and fancy yet strangely light weight, and above all, was Most Definitely not what she put on this morning. Carefully standing from the bed, Felicity looks to her left and heads over to the full length mirror she sees sitting upright there.

When she was a little girl, and we're talking very little here, she may or may not have on occasion wondered what it would be like to be a Disney princess, meet her prince and live happily ever after. She'd even had a friend back then who had all the princess garb, complete with pink pointy hat with a pretty veil flowing behind. She may have endulged in the dress up a time or two.

She had, however, since then learned that there were no such things as happily ever afters. And, frowning at her reflection, she was by far and away no princess. Still. Felicity sighed as she tugged on a strand of her long blonde hair that had fallen over her shoulders - which, by the way, where had her ponytail holder gone? - because while she may not be a princess, that didn't mean that she wasn't capable of appreciating this beautiful dress. It was floor length and though she could walk around okay it was restricting her stride just a little bit. The sleeves were long as well, coming to a stop just past her wrist with a cream colored V-shape pointing down to her fingers. And there was a fine, veil-like material that appeared to be attatched to the back of the simple yet elegant crown on her head, the ending of the veil tucked into her dress collar in such a way it wasn't coming loose even when she tugged on it.

Okay, so she seemed to be stuck in the pretty crown that had a single ruby in the middle, worse things have happened...

Right. Now back to the issue. Where is she, and how had she gotten here?

It was hard to think when her head pounded so, but first things first. Look around the room. Taking a step back from the mirror, Felicity crossed her arms over her chest and took a more detailed look around the room she had woken up in. The room was huge, the bed she'd woken up on was huge, and the various plush furniture scattered hither and thither looked big enough for Digg and his massive tree trunk arms to fit in quite comfortably. At the foot of the bed was a ginormous crate, probably full of quilts studdied with diamonds going by the rest of the room. Felicity walked around and looked carefully over each of the chairs, the top of the crate which she did peek into and it did appear to contain coverings of some sort, and even ran her fingers lightly over the (strangely low) long cubboard that covered most of the length along one wall. There were large candelabras on either end of it and one in the middle, with various dishes, a few orniments, and one large wooden box set off on the right side. Maybe that was where the crown she was wearing was usually kept. She had no interest in finding out.

Judging from the light streaming through the single window in the room, a window that was up very high, it was still day time so none of the candles were lit. Felicity paused and tapped her fingers against the wooden cubboard, thinking. Then she noticed with a frown that the turquoise blue she had just painted on her nails last night was unfortunately completely gone, bare as the day she was born. That was a crime, and someone would pay.

Around this time is when she began to remember that she likely had team members out there somewhere, too. The last thing she remembered was entering a building with Digg. ... Digg! Oliver, Roy! What had happened to them? If she was here, then where were they? Not knowing what may be out there but knowing she had to find her friends, Felicity rushes over to the door, attempting to pull it open.

It doesn't budge, because, as she quickly comes to realize, well, it's locked.

She screams.

"I am So Not going to be the princess locked in a tower! Ugh!" Felicity pounded on the door and heaved with all her might, but nothing seemed to work. She even resorted to lightly banging her head against it in case this wherever she was had a really weird way of opening doors, but all that did was make her head hurt worse. Turning around, she slid down the door until she was sitting down, but she wasn't about to give up. Just taking a rest. Leaning her head against the unyielding door that may as well have been a wall, she opened her eyes and stared at her hands.

If it were Oliver...or Digg, or Roy...heck even Laurel, what would they do in this situation?

Pick the lock. Simple!

Felicity stood, took a step back and then turned to examine the door. It was your standard castley type door, thick, strong wood with a metal locking system. Now, she was much, much, Much more proficient at hacking electronic locks than medieval metal ones but with no other options, she would give it a go. Just as she was about to get started on what would no doubt prove to be a fruitless endeavor, because what did she have to pick it with, she heard footsteps echoing on the other side of the door and froze. The foot steps halted right outside her door.

"Felicity? Is that you?" Asked a familiar voice, and Felicity could've cried in relief. "I heard a scream, are you ok?"

"Ray! Oh thank goodness. The door is locked! Can you find a key or something out there? You don't happen to be in your Atom suit do you? That would be really awesome, cause then you could just blast it to bits. So much easier." Felicity said this all fairly quickly, and there was a pause on the other side of the door.

"Very funny, but you didn't answer my question. Are you ok?" Ray asked again, to which Felicity responded by pouting at the door. Then she began to wonder how it was that Ray was here, too, wherever this was. Perhaps he had been keeping an eye on things and was coming to their aid when he'd been captured, too? He was acting a little off, she thought, but given this whole experience...

Maybe they, or at least she, was locked in some virtual reality and none of this was actually real? That did make a lot of sense, actually.

"Felicity?" Ray asked again, recalling the woman to her senses.

"Yes, I am fine. Just stuck in some weird reality where I am apparently serving as the princess locked in the tower, now go find that key!" Felicity yelled, banging on the door once for emphasis.

"Yes ma'am! I'll go...see what I can find." Ray responded immediately, sounding uncertain at the end but she heard his foot steps moving off anyhow, no doubt muttering something about crazy blondes. Felicity sighed and leaned against the door. She did hope that it was really him and not just part of the program that had been written into this virtual reality, if it indeed was one; but why would he have been written in at all? Unless to confuse her in some way? And was she really here alone, or were the others out there somewhere?

Ugh, there were too many questions and her head was still killing her, so she wasn't going to overly worry about it just this moment. She would wait a little while in case Ray did come through for her, then she would work on carrying out her own escape plan.

If she were to be completely honest, though...being a princess locked in a room here, if she had to be, Ray would not have been the first choice she'd choose as to the identity of 'Prince Charming,' the one meant to come and save her. No, that individual would be a little more blond and blue-eyed...if she could survive the teasing she'd no doubt endure from that circumstance.

She sighed, holding her head in her hands for a moment. Seeing as she had no idea where that particular man was at present, which she was worried and hoped he and the others were ok, she took a moment to close her eyes and just sit quietly. Endeavoring to quiet the pounding just behind her eyes. It was making her feel ill, which was odd because she had no bump or even bruise there on the side of her head where it hurt so bad, but then if this was a video game they were in she supposed it wouldn't have mattered because this wasn't their real, physical bodies anyway.

After a few minutes she declared herself done with quiet time and with waiting for Ray. Turning to survey the room again, she began to develop an idea. It was a crazy escape plan to be sure and bit of a long shot, but she'd make it work. She'd have to.


	2. Chapter 2

So this is about to get a little more strange...thanks so much to everyone who has favorited/reviewed! And to everyone reading now: Thanks so much for giving this crazy idea a good try~ haha.

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The underbrush rumbled dangerously, making Oliver tense just as a huge being stumbled out and came to a halt in front of them. When the being raised its head to look at them, Oliver relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. He'd recognize John Diggle anywhere, even dressed like...that.

"Totally didn't think you were an ogre." Roy quipped upon likewise recognizing Digg, sheathing his sword.

Sure enough, it was John Diggle, dressed in a red tunic with a bow and arrows design on the front, a white long sleeved shirt underneath, and black trousers. Beside him, Oliver could hear Roy snickering.

"Ok, so, all of us are dressed funny...but Digg, I think you take the cake." Roy declared in between his fits of giggles. Digg did not seem at all amused. Oliver stepped forward.

"It's good t'see you, Digg. Are you ok?" Oliver asked first, getting right down to business, and as soon as the big man had nodded, followed up with, "Have you seen Felicity?"

"No." Digg responded, his countenance suddenly falling. "I thought for sure she'd be with you." Diggle mumbled, looking worried. Oliver felt his heart drop, there went the hope of Digg being wherever Felicity was to protect her...wait, what'd he say? Before Oliver could inquire as to why he'd thought that Felicity was with him 'for sure,' John went on.

"I can help offer some insight as to what exactly is going on, though...and maybe where we'll find Felicity." Diggle said, giving both Oliver and Roy appraising looks.

"I woke up and there was...I suppose, a fellow knight nearby, able to answer any questions I had. So, there are two kingdoms here...we three are from that kingdom," Diggle pointed behind them, "...and they are, evidently calling it Starling Kingdom. Which," John paused and eyed Oliver. "You, for some reason, are supposed to be their beloved prince." Oliver startled, taking his time to digest that as Roy cut in,

"Hey, and what am I?" Roy asked, quite eagerly.

"Their idiot knight." Diggle informed him, crossing his arms. Roy grinned anyway, muttering the words, 'knight, I'm actually a knight..' over and over again. Ignoring him, Oliver turned back to Diggle,

"And you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend. Diggle glowered and turned his gaze to Roy.

"Well, that guy seemed to think...I...I am not your stinkin' page boy, ok? There is No Way I'm ever runnin' errands for Mr Pretty Boy over there." Diggle finally sputtered, turning away with a frown. Oliver allowed himself to crack a smile, as Roy still didn't quite get it.

"You're Roy's squire?" Oliver asked, his voice quiet but thoroughly amused. Roy looked from Oliver to Diggle and back again, then burst out laughing. Poor Diggle just stood there and shook his head. After a moment, Oliver cut in again, his words sobering them all up,

"You said you had a clue on Felicity's location?"

Digg nodded, "It's sort of a long shot, but...so, rumor is, the 'beloved prince of Starling' has his eye on a princess of a rival kingdom. A kingdom called Coast Village. A princess with hair the color of the sun. And given that you are playing the role of prince here..." Diggle trailed off, waving a hand at Oliver. Who looked adorably confused at Diggle's last words.

"It-it sounds like it is her, yeah, but why would my being prince have anything to do with her being-?" He was cut off by a loud groan from Roy.

"Oh, please - could you be anymore obtuse? You two make the perfect couple, ok? Even Thea and I agree on it. Digg and Lyla, too. Pretty much everyone knows how sickeningly sweet the two of you would be together except for, apparently, the two of you. So yes, if you're a prince here it actually does make perfect sense that she be a princess!" Roy unloaded upon the both of them, to which Digg just stood there and nodded his head in agreement.

"I didn't...I mean, we're not.." Oliver tried, but was thankfully interrupted by Digg.

"Yeah, you can save your stuttered disapprovals for later, why don't we all get a move on and find our girl? There were some horses back this way, let's go." Receiving nods all around, the three set off.

* * *

Felicity was done with waiting, and was now attempting to put her plan into action. It would require a great deal of upper body strength, which she really didn't have, but would have to make do. Once she was free and out of here, then she could pass out. Or, well, at least take a nice long break. With that thought, she got to work.

First, she pushed, pulled, and dragged that over-sized chest to the area directly under that little sliver of a window up there. Then, she selected the chair she thought most sturdy and heaved it up onto the chest. After a moment's rest, she grabbed another chair and heaved it on top. Yes, she was attempting to make a furniture tower to bring her within reach of that little window.

It was quite exhausting, getting all those chairs and things into place. She'd had to rest more than once. But then, finally, if she stood on the last chair she was within about an arm's length of the window...if she leaned closer, and maybe jumped a little bit, she almost could...

There was an ominous creaking sound, and then her leaning tower of chairs started to lean away from the window a little too much. A bolt of fear shot straight through Felicity; she knew this tower was balanced rather precariously, but if she went falling with it...hitting that stone floor from this height? That would spell most certain death for our dear blond. Her only chance was to reach that window, and so she propelled herself forward and made a desperate leap for the window, feeling the chairs start to fall away from beneath her feet.

She was reaching, reaching...and felt the solid window seal beneath her fingertips, and held on for dear life. She could hear, rather than look over her shoulder to see, the leaning tower of chairs come crashing down upon the stone floor...it made quite a racket, she wasn't sure how anyone could not have heard it. It would more than likely send someone in here to check on her, whether or not that was a good thing remained to be seen. With her last remaining strength, Felicity pulled herself up to lay across the narrow window seal. It was too low for her to even sit up properly, but wide enough that she could almost stretch out across it length wise. She would just...wait up here a moment, catch her breath.

That is when the strangest thing happened. She heard her mother's voice.

"Oh no, my sweet little baby," it began, and with a start, Felicity looked over into her room and saw...well, her mother, Donna Smoak standing there.

"Mom?" Felicity questioned, wondering what in the heck was going on and why her mother had suddenly appeared.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but you've commited a fraction against the rules." The Donna-that-wasn't-Donna said much too sweetly, because Felicity knew for sure...her mother didn't talk like that. It had actually started out sounding like her in the beginning, until it...hadn't.

"Destruction of property. Those poor chairs." 'Donna' continued, frowning at the furniture massacre that was all over the floor around her feet. "You get a warning with this first offense, sweetheart." And here she looked up at Felicity, eyes the same color as her mother's, only quite expressionless. There was no love there, when usually Donna's eyes held at least some sort of emotion, or as was more usual, more than one emotion. "Second offense, you'll have to spend two hours in that horrible, awful dungeon. I would do anything to keep out of there, if I were you, sweetie." She said, waving up a hand towards Felicity, who was still perched upon her window seal. "Third offense," there was a pause, and 'Donna's face fell, "deletion." She said, completely emotionless. Then, "Have a nice day!" She waved cheerily, then was gone. Just disappeared into nothing.

"O...k. That was, uhm...that was weird." Felicity mumbled to herself, her mind racing as to why whoever was in charge of this game chose - out of all the possible people on the entire planet - her Mother as the apparent in-game warning/police system? An admin sort of thing? It was so...weird. Also, it freaked her out a bit because it likely meant someone was watching everything she did. Sighing, she lay her forehead to the cool window seal beneath her and just let herself be for a moment.

Next week's will be longer, sorry this was kinda short. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Fair warning, this is the last of the chapters I had previously written, so still hoping for update by this time next week, but no promises...and sorry for this being somewhat late, I've been sick since the weekend and bleh. Anyway, hope someone out there is reading this and will be enjoying. :)

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Virtually Yours 3

The three men had been able to procure two horses - one being the one Roy had woken up next to, the other one Digg had found. Ostensibly, there should have been three, but they would have to make do. The bigger men had both claimed a steed of their own, which left Roy to either ride double with one - he'd usually choose Oliver's since he was slightly smaller and therefore more room behind him - or, as was his want, when the going was slow for the horses because of the terrain, he would get off and walk ahead.

Which was how it came to be that, Roy was by himself and scouting ahead some distance, when a rather large stone structure suddenly loomed in front of the teen.

"Whoa," Roy muttered to himself, taking a step back and looking around. "This place is...huge."

"Roy?! Is that you?" A sudden voice called, pulling the young man around the side of the massive stone building. It was more like a huge wall, really...and that voice had sounded a lot like - yep, there she was, poking her head and upper body out of a window?

"Felicity! Man am I glad to see you - maybe Oliver'll finally stop growling now. He says he doesn't, but he totally-"

"As glad as I am to see you and hear that Oliver is with you, I have to get down, like now!" Felicity broke into what he was saying, and her words made Roy's eyes widen.

"Wait! Wait, wait - they are literally right behind me, and I will not be responsible for not catching you, so uh - no, just wait, ok? I'll be back in like, five minutes!" Roy yelled up to her, already backing away. Felicity huffed.

"Fine, I'll give you five minutes - but then I'm jumping!" She responded, then muttered, looking down, "Maybe ten." Because she really, really wanted down. Before anyone uninvited slipped past those locked doors - which really didn't matter, whoever came in couldn't reach her up here anyway, and she would be getting out and down, within ten...or fifteen minutes.

"Ok, just wait! Be right back!" Roy pointed at her, then turned and dashed through the forest in the direction from which he'd come. Somewhere up ahead he could hear the horses tramping down the brush, and Oliver and Diggle quietly talking.

"Oliver! Oliver, I found her, but she is seriously about to jump out a really high window!" His calling to them brought their conversation to a halt, but then as Diggle was saying, "What?" Oliver was already urging his horse on, taking the path Roy had come down. It was difficult to keep his seat with the many obstacles the horse went through, around or over, but he managed it, then came out to a sudden clearing with a huge stone structure in front.

"Felicity?" Oliver called out, loudly.

"Oliver!" Was his answer, and he quickly wheeled the horse to go around the side of the structure. And then he felt some of the tension he'd been carrying since he'd woken up in that clearing dissipate upon seeing her. It had come right back, though, once he saw just how far she was leaning out that window...Roy was right, she was clearly intending to jump. Or simply fall, if she kept leaning like that.

"Are you sure there's no other way down?" He had to ask, because he hated risking her safety like this...

"Yes, now bring that horse closer!" Felicity commanded, and he saw one of her legs dangling out over the ledge. Oliver pursed his lips, jaw tense, but edged the beast on over.

"Now or never," Oliver heard Felicity murmur, lifting her head and closing her eyes tight right before she...what, did she just roll out of that opening? Oliver huffed but stood up in the stirrups just in time to catch her and use the momentum to swing her down in front of him with her sitting sideways, her back to the building. He had one arm wrapped securely around her middle as he pulled at the reins and had the horse turn and head back into the woods. It was only when they were at a reasonable distance away from the castle-structure that he halted the horse and swung himself down to stand before the woman still seated on the horse.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked quietly, intently studying her face as his hands came to rest on the horse on either side of her person. Her eyes locked on his, she shakily nodded.

"I'm fine...though I've got a headache the size of the California drought, and there is no way I'm running anywhere in this dress. Can hardly walk," she muttered the last part, looking down and away as her right hand raised to massage her temple. Only then did Oliver lean back to actually take in her appearance, from her head to her toes, and a mischievous grin formed on his lips.

"You make quite a beautiful princess there, Miss Smoak." He declared, his voice just as quiet as before. It made Felicity blush feircely, and she reached out and smacked him on the shoulder with a frown.

"Don't joke...we're seriously in a freakishly weird video game here, and how are we going to get out of it? We don't even know why we're here. And where are Digg and Roy? Digg is here, too, right?" She asked, a plaintive note in her voice.

"We'll figure it out, yes they're both here, around sonewhere in these woods, if they don't find us in a moment we'll go looking for them. Now, about your dress...I have an idea to help, if we need to run. Just, hold still." Oliver took a step back and produced a dagger from sonewhere. He stepped forward again and took a handful of the material of her skirt on her right side, right at her knee, thrust in the knife and seperated the material all the way down to the hem. She'd let out a squeak as he'd come at her with the knife, but she trusted him and so remained very very still despite her senses screaming at her to run. And then he'd cut a nice slit into the side of her dress that would actually allow her to walk. She watched him with wide-eyes, but let out a sigh of relief. It was actually a fairly sensible solution.

"Let me know if I need to cut anymore, ok?" Oliver asked, reassuring her with a pat on the knee as his other hand put the dagger he'd found in his boot back away. Felicity nodded soundlessly, just as they heard some braches breaking somewhere close by. Oliver took up a protective stance, which wasn't really needed because moments later Diggle, still on horseback, came into view, Roy following. Felicity looked them both over and smiled.

"Everybody's here, no one is hurt, couldn't ask for more. Now, help me down." Felicity proclaimed, making grabby hands at Oliver, who had stepped away to greet the other two.

"Of course, m'lady. Exactly as you wish," Roy said, with an over-exaggerated bow. Felicity glared at him and was glad Oliver had headed back over instead of letting the boy-knight help her down. She put her hands on his shoulders for balance as he put his around her waist and picked her up, stepping back to set her on the ground right in front of him. And if their hands lingered just a little...well no one commented.

"So," Felicity began, side-stepping away from the well dressed temptation before her -and who was he supposed to be, anyway? She was a princess, looked like Roy was a knight, or a boy-knight as she'd call it, and poor Digg was dressed as either a peasant or a squire. Perhaps Oliver was a head knight or adventurer of some sort. Or a...prince. But he wore no crown, though she supposed princes of the time wouldn't have had to, though him being a prince would make total sense. Totally embarrassing though, as she was supposed to be a princess here, and they...well, just, no. He had made it clear that there would never be a 'them.'

"So," Felicity began again after clearing her throat, looking at each of her fellas in turn. "We are in a video game of some sort, my mother was chosen as some sort of NPC admin to tell us when we've done wrong, and we're all dressed in funny get ups. What's the endgame here, roles we're supposed to carry out or something? Any ideas on how, exactly, we get out of here?" Felicity finished, frowning as the aching in her head was making it a little difficult to focus on how she phrased her sentences.

"Wait, your mom was here?" Oliver asked, turning towards her with an adorable confused scrunch of his eye brows.

"No, I could tell it wasn't really her. Just something the programmer put into place here, for some reason." Felicity whispered, tilting her head slightly. Oliver frowned, not liking the implications this brought up...why chose her mother for that role? He truly hoped that he was wrong, but...that spoke of a possible personal connection with his, er their, dear blond. He was especially glad that they were all together now, and would have to keep a close eye on her...y'know, just in case.

At just that moment, another cry spilt the air.

"Over here, sir! I've found them!"


	4. Chapter 4

Here we go ~ plot is about to thicken. Thanks to everyone reading so far, please enjoy!

I give a big clue as to who is behind it in this chapter, which I'm sure very many of you will catch and immediately know who I'm pointing to. ;) If you do, would love to know your thoughts ~ if not, it will be revealed next chapter!

* * *

 _"Over here, sir! I've found them!"_

While Felicity out right startled at the sudden call, she observed all three of the men around her tense and crouch down as they attempted to locate the source of the voice. Then, two things happened at once: the first being, Oliver grabbed her by the shoulders and squeezed her in between himself and the side of the horse, his back to her; and second, no less than ten individuals all dressed quite regally descended upon them. Three on horseback and at least seven on foot, most with, ironically or not, bows and arrows.

And the man astride the center horse? Disney prince Ray himself, of course. On a beautiful white stallion, too. The words that fell from his lips, however, caused her blood to freeze, and with those words, Felicity began to realize just how serious this all was and who was behind this.

"Unhand the princess Kuttler, and you all shall be allowed to leave here unharmed." 'Ray' proclaimed, motioning with his sword towards Felicity. She'd had her hand resting on Oliver's bicep as she peered around him to see what was going on, but blanched and became quite pale at the name. No one noticed.

"Not a chance," Oliver growled, stretching his arm behind him to force Felicity a little further back and out of sight. His words echoed those of Roy,

"Yeah, man, we're not kidnapping her, we're saving her." Roy grumbled as he and Diggle, the latter having taken Oliver's bow as he had little weaponry of his own, fired a few arrows to make the bad guys take cover and to draw attention away from Felicity and Oliver. Not that she noticed.

"We've got to get out of here," Felicity whispered, turning away from Oliver to look at the horse. She'd never mounted one of these all by herself, especially not without something to stand on, so this was gonna be...suddenly Oliver's coat filled her vision, and then she was being picked up and placed behind him. Oliver reached back to grab her arm and wind it round his waist as, with the words, "Keep our girl safe," Diggle slapped the horse on the rump and it took off.

"Take the other one," Diggle commanded Roy, "You actually know what to do with the dang thing and I'll only slow you up. I'll buy you what time I can here. Go!"

"We shouldn't separate like this," Roy pouted quietly, one hand in the horse's mane.

"I'll circle back and find you guys after I make sure that they're not following, all right?" Diggle reasoned, but when Roy still hesitated, John took a threatening step towards him and barked, "Go!" In one swift move, Roy was on the horse and out of sight. Digg did his best to keep up the diversion and not get wounded himself, but unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before he got hit.

* * *

Felicity had resorted to biting down on her lips, hard, in order to keep inside the scream that desperately wanted loose as the horse she was astride suddenly took off like a bullet. This was worse than being on the back of Oliver's motorcycle; at least then she'd had faith in his driving abilities - here? Not so much. Oliver only had control over so much, the beast underneath them did the rest. ...and then she had the vague recollection that this was all a video game anyway and none of it mattered. Unless they died in the game. Then it just might.

And then there was the whole issue of the name 'prince Ray' had used, and what that meant about who was behind this whole entire stupid thing...which did make a lot of sense now she thought about it...kind of.

She heaved a small sigh and figured she may as well try to make herself a little more comfortable. Felicity detached her right hand from where it'd been gripping the back of his jacket to slide it round the other side of Oliver's waist and clasped her hands in front of him, sliding forward minutely to rest her aching head on his back. The jarring caused by the horse's pace was doing nothing for her headache, but then she figured, nothing probably would. She'd have to ask Digg if he knew any remedies for a virtual headache.

Oliver had tensed intially as she attached herself a little more firmly to his person, warning bells going off in his head as he realized he was very pleased with the feeling of her arms around him, but he decided to ignore that warning and instead take one hand off the reins to place it over her clasped ones. Perhaps she'd held on more tightly for fear of falling off, so he squeezed her hands once in a gentle reassurance that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

All too soon, they came upon a river and a copse of trees thick enough to hide the horses. Oliver brought the horse to a stop; this seemed like a fairly good place for a temporary camp. He waited a moment for Felicity to move and ask to be let down, but nothing happened.

"Felicity?" Oliver quietly voiced his concern, looking over his shoulder. She squeaked and sat up so fast he was afriad she'd topple over the backend of the horse.

"I wasn't falling asleep!" She declared, the resulting slow blink she gave bearing out the truth of that statement. Oliver didn't have the willpower to fight back the grin he felt tugging at his lips.

"As delighted as I am to know I'd make an acceptable pillow, that wasn't what I was asking." Oliver kept his voice to that same low tone, though the teasing lit to it was what actually woke the blond up.

"Huh?" Was her eloquent response. Oliver looked around the little area he'd chosen again and nodded, looking to her as he said,

"I think we'll stop here for the night - do you want help getting down?"

"Oh, I can probably manage..." Felicity said, squirming around a little as she realized she still had her arms around him and then quickly withdrew them. She leaned over and looked to the left, then did the same to the right, and finally she tapped on his left arm. "Seeing as this thing doesn't really have any handles or handholds for getting down, uhm, do you mind if you just...can I use your arm for just a minute, please?"

Oliver had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing but he couldn't contain his smile so he kept himself faced-forward as he obediently stretched out his left arm for her use. He had to bite his lip as she thanked him, and then he felt more movement behind him, could hear every movement because the material of her dress was not exactly made for stealth, and finally he felt the pressure of her hands around his arm. She braced herself and used his arm to swing down to the ground.

"Ok down there?" He asked, leaning over so she could actually touch the ground from his arm, but he'd voiced the question when she didn't immediately let go. She opened one eye, then the other, slowly moving her feet as she realized she was in fact on solid ground now.

"Yes, good...I'm good." She said with a nod, and then finally released him. Oliver smiled and leaned back in the saddle, a strangely contented feeling coming over him as he watched Felicity. He was not unaware that he had feelings for her, it was just an impossible thing for him to act on because of the life that he led, so...he chose to ignore it, most times. Or try to. The fear he had felt, though, upon waking here and not knowing where she was, or if...well, he was beginning to wonder if he'd somehow let these feelings run too deep for him to keep on ignoring.

Felicity chewed on her lip as she took a few steps forward, then turned and leaned against one of the trees. She looked up at Oliver and asked, "So...what now?"

"Now, we wait for the others to make it back." Oliver told her, glancing down as her as he continued to study the terrain. "If they're not here within the hour, I'll go looking." He added.

"This is our home, then, for the foreseeable future, hm.." Felicity mumbled as she walked around the little area hidden by the trees. She was so not looking forward to camping out here in the wilds, virtual reality or not. This hard earth did not a bed make, and then there were no pillows, and nothing to cover up with. She really didn't know how Oliver could've possibly survived several years like this. One night was gonna be more than enough for her. Lost in her own thoughts, she did not take notice of the way Oliver was looking at her.

The sound of an approaching horse brought the both of them out of his or her own thoughts. The horse was being led by Roy, with an injured Diggle slung across the saddle of said horse.

"Digg!" Oliver and Felicity cried in almost unison, Felicity rushing over while Oliver dismounted.

"He'll be ok I think," Roy began, "just took an arrow in the leg...and another in the shoulder." He half-heardly assured them, but when Digg sat up with a strained smile, then they believed him.

And then...the strangest thing happened. Again. 'Donna' suddenly appeared, right beside Roy.

"Oh Mr. Diggle, such a brave solider man you are. You were put in the role of squire here, but you were still willing to give your life for those you love. Consider your mission accomplished, you may wake up now." She said with a very feminine giggle, then gave a little wave and added, "Say bye-bye, Mr. Diggle."

As soon as Oliver and Roy stopped staring open-mouthed at Donna, they all turned attention to Diggle, who was...disappearing?

"What-what's happening?" Diggle asked, eyes wide as he lifted a hand to watch it disappear before his very eyes.

"I think you're waking up." Felicity said, stepping closer to the horse Digg was slung across and reaching out to his disappearing form. "Oh, you'll be the first - I hope there's nothing dangerous waiting on the other side." Felicity continued, worried. Diggle raised his brown eyes to meet her blue, and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just get this thing figured out soon, ok?" He asked, glancing at the three of them. He heard Oliver's, "We will, and watch your back," right before the darkness took him and he knew no more.


	5. Chapter 5

Virtually Yours 5

So here we go...thanks so much to everyone reading & commenting! You guys always make my day ~ but I do enjoy just knowing peoples are reading and liking it, so thank you. :)

Oh - I hope this beginning part isn't too confusing? It's starts with Diggle waking up. I know nothing of virtual reality systems so, using major creative license here haha, yeah. Hope you enjoy! Any questions feel free to ask!

* * *

"Johnny?"

That sounded an awful lot like...well, there really was only one person who called him that.

"Oh - he's waking up! Johnny, can you me? Johnny!"

"Lyla." John croaked out even before opening his eyes, his throat dry as sandpaper. A straw was pressed to his lips and he took a healthy sip as he pried his eyes open, taking in the worried faces around him. It took a moment for it to dawn on him as to why they were looking worried, and when it did, he nearly coughed up the water he'd just swallowed as he hurried to sit up.

"Take it easy, John." Lyla admonished as she helped him into a sitting position.

"Where-?" He managed to cough out, looking from Lyla to see Thea, Laurel and Ray all hovering nearby.

"We're in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city; Thea and I called in Laurel and Ray when you guys went missing. We only found you because Ray noticed the electrical out put this place was giving off, which was very suspicious for an abandoned building..."

"Enough chit chat!" Thea suddenly butted into the conversation, looming over Lyla's shoulder as the older woman sat on the...edge of the pod he was lying in? What the..? "We've been able to figure out that you guys were hooked into some computer game - were the others there? Are Ollie and Roy ok? And Felicity?" Thea continued, giving a worried glance at something off to the side that Diggle couldn't see.

"As far as I know, last I with them, and yes they were fine." Diggle paused and then made eye contact with Ray, "We'd just been attacked by your evil doppelganger, and your medieval army." Digg grumbled, finally looking down and giving attention to the fact that there were wires attached to his arms and chest. "And what the heck is all this?!"

"Doppelganger?" Ray asked, his face scrunched in confusion, as at the same time Lyla said,

"Vitals, including feeding tubes and heart monitor. That's why we couldn't just pry the pods open and get all you guys out - you're tied in. Plus, there's no opening the pods until the computer releases you. Medieval, John? What was going on there, and how come you were the only one to come back?" Lyla questioned, ever the voice of reason.

"The theme of the game seemed to be medieval England - your boy was dressed as a knight, Oliver a prince, and Felicity a princess." Diggle answered, looking to Thea, then Laurel and finally Ray as he spoke. "Also, they seemed to have taken your likeness and made you into a prince wanting to keep Felicity locked away. The programmer also took Donna Smoak's likeness and made her into some sort of admin, or something."

"And you?" Lyla inquired, raising an eyebrow and ignoring Ray's indignant protest that he would, most likely, never ever lock Felicity away in a tower or some such nonesense.

"Not important," Diggle quickly responded, "Now, I woke up because the programmer declared my mission fulfilled. Giving my life to protect another, or something. I take it that, to wake up, they will also have some missions to complete. Where are their pods?" Diggle asked, having the irrational need to lay eyes on his friends. On their actual living, breathing bodies.

"They're right here, the four of you are tied around this main machine here." Ray answered, and indeed they were, each facing a different direction. Diggle had raised himself up from the pod enough to see Oliver on one side of him, and Roy on the other. Felicity must be in the one on the side he couldn't see. They seemed ok, at least, only sleeping...and then he settled down against the back of his pod once more and looked up at Lyla to see her biting her lip and looking away.

"What?" Diggle asked, immediately on edge. What could make Lyla nervous like that..?

"I didn't want to tell you right away, because there's nothing we can do at the moment, but..." Lyla sighed and decided to get on with it, there was no point in stopping Johnny from worrying now.

"We're concerned about Felicity," Laurel cut in, "She seems to have sustained a head injury prior to pod-entry. How was she in the game, any slurred speech, uncoordinated movements, headaches...?"

"I.." Diggle paused, then thought back as he tried to get hold of the edge of the pod and stand up. He wanted his own eyes on their girl. "Oliver did mention something about her complaining of a headache, I think." He mumbled, assisted by both Lyla and Ray as he slowly shuffled over to see Felicity. When he peeked in over the glass dome that was the top of the pod, he could see a distinct line of red dripping down the side of her face. He winced; no wonder she had headache...and all they were tied to here, well none of it looked to be pain killers.

"How long?" Diggle questioned, turning on Lyla suddenly. He had been assuming a few hours at most, but he was feeling strangely weak. The look Lyla was giving him confirmed his fears before she voiced it,

"In total...from the time you disappeared until now, it's been almost twenty-four hours, Johnny."

* * *

"I hope Digg's ok." Felicity's voice filled the silence that had settled over the three since the said man's departure.

"John is a smart man, I trust him to watch out for himself - and us - until we can all figure a way out of here." Oliver answered her, leaning back against the tree he was sitting at the base of. Felicity was stretched out within an arm's reach of him, attempting to use one of the horse's saddles as a pillow. She really didn't understand how the old cowboys did that... Roy was on her other side, a couple feet away. The horses were tethered a few yards away.

"What I don't get, is why they called you 'the Princess,' what was it? Kuttler?" Roy asked, wrinkling his nose. "Of all names, why chose one that sounds like an eating utensil?"

"Maybe we all have random names in this, we don't know." Oliver offered quietly, glancing over to the reclining blond whom was staying suspiciously quiet. Even through the fading light as the sun set over them, he could tell by the tense way she held herself that she was hiding something.

"Felicity?" He questioned her quietly, keeping his eyes fixed on her face. She was staring up through the trees with a blank expression. After a moment, she said,

"I think I know who the programmer behind all this is." She said, her voice low and lacking emotion. "Kuttler is my father's last name." Felicity sighed and turned her back to Oliver, hiding her face in the crook of her arm. Oliver let out an audible breath of air, then leaned forward to rest a hand on her shoulder, applying only a small amount of pressure but enough for her to know and remember that she wasn't alone. He remembered her saying her father had abandoned her and her mother when she was a small child, he knew she must be feeling quite a mix of emotions right about now.

"Wait," Roy finally voiced his thoughts, "Your father probably set this all up? Why? And what's with the medieval thing? I mean, he could've left us with a player's guide or something, at the very least."

"I don't know why," Felicity quietly responded, raising her eyes to meet Roy's even as her hand lifted to cover Oliver's. "But explaining things has never really been his style." She told him, then dislodged Oliver's hand by turning onto her other side to give the green archer a small smile.

"We'll figure this out," Oliver assured her, leaning forward again to take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Felicity fell into a light sleep with her hand still covered by Oliver's. Roy rolled his eyes, turned his head away from them, and fell asleep. Oliver stayed up to keep watch over the both of them.

The next morning...Oliver woke up to find a blond head tucked into his side. It was still early jugding by the filtering light, but a glance over at Roy revealed him to still be asleep. Something had awoken him, but a survey of their surroundings did not reveal any imminent danger. So what was it?

The answer became obvious when the blond head started to move and the hands gripping the fabic of his coat tightened their hold. Felicity let out a low groan.

"Felicity?" Oliver quietly voiced his concern, lifting a hand to run through her golden tresses. Last night, they had managed to get that crown off, though all their efforts had not been kind to her headache. "Is it your head?" He asked, even as he buried his hands in her hair and started massaging her scalp on the right side. She gave a small nod, turning into him more to give him easier access, and eventually he felt her body start to relax. He worried about what this constant headache might mean for her in real life, either an injury or just a problem with how her body was handling this virtual reality. Regardless of what he may or may not admit aloud, he did have great affection for this woman; whenever she hurt, he hurt. He couldn't stand to see her in pain, really couldn't.

At length, he could tell that she had slipped into a fitful sleep again, but he continued his ministrations. A few hours later, Roy woke up and decided to make a sweep of the perimeter. By the time he returned, thankfully with nothing to report, Felicity was awake and sitting up. As Oliver helped her to stand he inquired after her headache and she with a blush she informed him it was still there, but feeling much better now and thanked him for his assistance. Oliver just nodded and stepped away. Roy began to prep the horses for travel as the other man just stood by awkwardly, holding the blanket and saddle and not really knowing what to do. Roy finished fastening the cinch around the belly of his horse in time to glance over and see Oliver slowly approaching the other horse.

"Have we finally found something the great Oliver Queen can't do?" Roy loudly question, snickering the whole while. Oliver fixed him with a glare and then threw the blanket over the back of the horse, dropping the saddle on top and then leaning back to stare at it. Roy bit the inside of his cheek and looked away.

"I suppose you already know that in loo of a brush, you need to run your hands over the horse's back under the blanket to make sure there's no tangles...they can get real ornery if that happens cause it really hurts...then of course with the saddle-"

"Roy! Fine, if you know know so much, feel free. I'll go find a water source, we really shouldn't be going this long without some. Find me when you're done, I'll be headed north." Oliver grumbled, stalking off before Felicity could reach his side to try and calm him. She smiled and made her way over to where Roy was finishing up with Oliver's horse.

"It's about time we found something Oliver isn't actually an expert at. Wait til I tell Digg." Felicity joked, sharing a conspiring grin with Roy.

"All right, she's all ready." Roy procliamed, stepping back and waving to the horse.

"She?"

"Well yeah, it's got no man-parts, so...she." Roy shrugged and scratched the back of his neck, while Felicity continued to stare at him.

"Roy Harper, have you named our horses?" Felicity asked amusedly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Well...I was thinking Quiver for that one," Roy nodded to Oliver's horse, which was a mare apparently. "And maybe Strings for mine? She has kinda...stringy legs, and tail..." he trailed off, staring at the dark brown horse.

"Strings and Quiver. I'm definitely surrounded by archers." Felicity grumbled good-naturedly, turning to step towards Quiver. "It figures Oliver's horse would be a female - you'll have to run those names by him, though." She continued, and just as she put her foot into the stirrup and threw her weight forward to try and swing her other leg up and over, well the horse lived up to one definition of her name. A flock of birds suddenly took flight from a nearby tree, cawing as they took to the sky, and Quiver spooked.

Felicity let out a scream as the horse bolted forward, and with one leg on and one not quite off, all she could do was grip the saddle horn for dear life as the horse weaved in and out of the trees.

"Get me off this thing!" She yelled, wide-eyed, but was too afraid of breaking her grip to even look up to see if Roy had followed.

Of course Roy had followed, jumping onto Strings' saddle the moment Quiver had bolted, and giving immediate chase. Mindful of the trees, Roy was finally able to get up along side Felicity. "Jump, I've got ya!"

"If you make me jump from a running horse, I am never speaking to you again, Harper!" Felicity yelled, clinging for dear life to the saddle and not bothering to turn and look at him. Roy huffed and then, since she wasn't even actually in the saddle, just reached forward and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him. Felicity screamed again and then clung to Roy's arms as he slowed his horse, and then carefully set Felicity onto the ground. Quiver kept on running, as if the very hounds of Sheol were at her heels.

Felicity shivered and leaned against Strings, trying to get her breathing under control before...oh wait, there he was. Oliver appeared from the thick line of trees behind them and rushed to her side, eyes on alert.

"I heard you scream - what happened?" Oliver asked, glaring at Roy before taking Felicity's face in his hands and checking her over.

"I'm fine, I just...the horse took off and I wasn't ready and it scared me and I thought that was it, but then Roy was there, he grabbed me somehow and...you saved me. Thanks." Felicity said breathlessly, glancing up at the young man before she was engulfed in Oliver's arms. For her, there was not any safer place in the world than in this man's arms. As she placed her hands on his back and buried her head against his chest, she felt her heart rate start to return to normal. Over her head, Oliver made eye contact with Roy and offered a quiet, 'Thank you.'

Roy was starting to dismount when suddenly, 'Donna' was there again.

"Roy Harper, the boy knight. It was your duty to protect the princess and guess what? You passed with flying colors, dear. You may wake up now. Goodbye, handsome." 'Donna' winked and then was gone. The moment her mom had started to speak, Felicity broke away from Oliver's embrace and stared at her. When she finished, she and Oliver turned to Roy, who was disappearing much the same way Diggle had.

"Well...guess this is it. See you guys on the other side." Roy said, lifting his gaze from his fading hands to meet their eyes.

"Be safe, Roy...say hi to Diggle..." Felicity whispered, clinging to Oliver's hand because both their friends had disappeared now and if she were honest, she was a little afraid. Oliver squeezed her hand.

"See you, Roy." Oliver spoke, making a silent promise with his eyes that he and Digg would not have to worry; whatever was going on here, Oliver would protect Felicity with his life. He wasn't planning on leaving her side until they both woke up. Roy understood the silent message and nodded, and then he too was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

So, don't know whether any of you may have noticed or not, but I changed the synopsis a few days ago because I just realized it wasn't really representing the story properly. I'm not too good with summaries I reckon lol. Anywho, as always a big thank you to everyone who is still following this story, and lots of love to those who have taken the time to review! Hope you enjoy reading!

* * *

Thea Queen pulled up a chair for herself in between the pods containing Roy and Felicity, if she leaned back far enough she could even glimpse the one containing her brother. She'd positioned herself here to keep an eye on Roy's vitals. His heart rate had sped up considerably a moment ago, though it seemed to be leveling out again now...she couldn't help but wonder for the umpteenth time about what was going on in there.

Suddenly, his heart rate shot up once again, making Thea come to attention. After a few moments, there was a pop followed by a hissing noise. That sound had come from...yep! With a grin, Thea jumped to her feet and stood over Roy's pod with a call to the others,

"Roy's waking up!" Thea's yell had brought the other two occupants of the room over, that being Lyla and John, the latter being in the lead. Together, Thea and John assisted the glass top to open a little faster. Once it was sufficiently open, Thea reached a hand in to lay it upon one of Roy's, as if to assure herself that he was in fact here. Digg took the time to carefully disconnect all the tubes and IVs from the teen while Thea just stared at his face, willing him to open his eyes.

It had been around seven hours since John had woken up, and a lot could happen in seven hours. Ray had left sometime not long after Digg had awoken; it was his aim to try and electronically trace whoever had set this all up, but he was hitting a lot of brick - equivalent walls. The best person for this particular job, was in one of those pods. Still, Ray had gone to try his hand again, this time he'd be using some much better equipped devices. The rest of the team were eagerly awaiting hearing of any leads the man may come up with.

Laurel had needed to get back to work, but with the promise that they'd call in the event of any further developments, no matter the time of day. When Waller had refused assistance in locating the individuals behind this, Lyla had taken a temporary leave of absence, citing family emergency. She would need to get back to it soon, but she was not overly worried...

After a few minutes, the boy in the pod let out a groan. This was followed by the fluttering of his eye lids, and then, to the tune of Thea's coaxing words, Roy's eyes finally opened.

The first person his eyes fixed upon was Thea, and the first thing he did was try to speak but coughed instead.

"Here, have a sip from my water bottle." Thea urged, grabbing the bottle and holding it to his lips, her free hand bracing the back of his head down by his neck to help him lift up a bit. After a few small swigs, she took it away and leaned back.

"You all right?" Thea asked, watching Roy's eyes flicker from her to Diggle, staying on him a moment before coming back to her.

"Fine," he spoke, wincing because his throat felt kinda raw after such a time of disuse.

"The team found us before even I woke up," John started, giving Roy a half smile. "There doesn't seem to be a way to get them out from this side, so...any developments since I woke?"

"One," Roy said, after hesitating a moment. He moved a little uncomfortably, looking from Thea to Lyla, then resting his gaze back on John.

"The evil Ray called Felicity princess Kuttler. Which, because she said that's her father's last name, we're guessing he's the one behind all this." Roy waved at the big machine looming behind him, then did a double take followed by a, "Whoa. I was connected to that thing?" He asked, pointing, clearly distracted.

"Yes, you all were. John kindly unconnected you when the pod opened. We'd disconnect everyone else too, but we can't until the game releases them.." Thea trailed off and made a displeased face.

"Wait, Noah Kuttler? Yes, he may well have the capability to do all this." Lyla said thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side as she considered it.

"You know who he is?" John asked, surprised. "Felicity's father?"

"Yes, ARGUS has had their eye on Noah Kuttler for some time, code name The Calculator. He's too slippery to actually convict, but there have been numerous and mostly electronic crimes that, while never proven, we're sure he's to blame."

"So, Felicity's dad is really good with computers and stuff too, and could've likely done something like this - but why?" Thea asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Roy, how did you wake up?" John asked, trying to gather some clues.

"Uh...I think she said something about me being a knight and protecting the princess? Something like that. I got her off a runaway horse before she fell off." Roy commented, ending in a shrug as if it were no big deal.

"You and I, sir, are having a long conversation about what all exactly happened there and, hey, if you have some crazy hero horse riding skills too, I want to see them." Thea broke in, waving a hand at Roy.

"We may have a wait before the next one wakes up. You two may as well that conversation now, here, while Lyla and I look up all we can on Noah. If this guy can be found, we need to find him." John said, looking to Lyla, who nodded in agreement. But Thea and Roy would have to stay put; it was an unspoken agreement that as long as even one of the pods was occupied, there would be someone here to watch over them.

As it turns out, it would be a bit of a wait indeed before the next pod opened...

* * *

"I just...if my dad is behind this, I just don't understand why." Felicity said, scrunching up her nose adorably. Not that Oliver thought her confused face was adorable. ... He paused and looked over at the blond, saw that line that formed between her eyes when...ok, so her confused face was totally adorable. And he was not going to think about the fact that he knew all her facial expressions and what each little nuance meant.

Oliver mentally shook himself but could not help his smile as he stood and dried his hands off on his pants, heading the few steps upstream to where Felicity was seated. In addition to having a drink themselves as well as watering the horse - Strings, Oliver was reluctantly going with - Felicity had decided she needed to at least wash her face and was not going to do that downstream from him or the horse. She had her eyes closed and was paying special attention to splashing some of the cool water around her temple area on the right side.

"And, I mean, the other two were allowed to wake up because of being willing to give up their life and just general risk-myself-to-protect-you, so is that what we'll need to do? Think up some crazy plan to save each other to get out of here?" Felicity asked, opening her eyes to stare up at Oliver as she tilted her head down and attempted to milk out some of the water that had gotten to a good number of her golden strands.

"We'll save the crazy plan thinking for a last effort," Oliver declared, crossing his legs as he sat next to her. "Everything so far has happened by chance; we didn't plot to get cornered by Ray's men nor for the horse to run off with you. I say let's just continue as we were and see how this plays out, see what happens next." Oliver reasoned, and while yes it was logical, he was inwardly balking at the thought of Felicity willingly putting herself in any kind of danger - with him there to rescue her or vice versa, he still did not like it and it would only be used as a last ditch effort, if even then.

If he was gonna be stuck in a video game, though, he couldn't think of anyone better to be stuck with.

"We should probably try to find Quiver, I'd hate to think of her getting lost or hurt. Even if she is just a computer horse." Felicity added, though she was not looking forward to the prospects of riding a horse on her own. Only because she didn't really know how to ride one, and not because she'd miss having an excuse to be so close to Oliver...yeah, she couldn't even sound convincing in her own head.

"Then that's what we'll do." Oliver said, extending a hand to help her up as he stood. She took it and tried not to read too much into the fact that he did not let go of her hand until they reached the horse. Oliver swung into the saddle first, and then helped her up to sit behind him. If he were honest, Oliver kind of hoped that they did not find the other horse. It wouldn't be fair unless he actually tried though, so...they searched through the forest for several hours, keeping an eye out for any sign of the other horse. Turns out, there was absolutely no sign of the other horse. It was as if Quiver had just disappeared.

Since neither of their hearts appeared to be in it, Felicity was about to suggest a snack break - because she was feeling a little hungry now and surely there were berries somewhere they could eat - when Oliver suddenly pulled the horse to a rough halt. Strings did not like this and bucked a little, making Felicity let out a 'eep!' as well as probably squeezing the life out of the man in her arms. He somehow still had the breath to look over his shoulder and hush her, pointing to something in the distance. Felicity stretched herself up to look over his shoulder, and saw a cottage.

A house. In the middle of the woods.

"Are we talking Brier Rose, or Hansell and Grettle here?" Felicity muttered, tightening her hands around Oliver's shoulders as she scanned the area for any activity. It seemed quiet for now, but...

"What?" Oliver asked, his voice hushed but incredulous. Thing was, he'd turned his head over his shoulder again to ask her this question, and for a very long moment the proximity of their faces made her completely forget the thread of conversation. She inhaled and picked it up again when he faced forward. Then she slapped him lightly on his left shoulder.

"Oh come on, those were fairytale references. They had those long before you were even born, mister!" Felicity heatedly whispered, giving his right shoulder an extra hard squeeze for good measure. Oliver just shook his head and chuckled, directing the horse away from the cottage.

"Thea has made me watch Sleeping Beauty, only once, and I doubt that cottage is made of sweets. But we'll keep an eye on it, and if it is abandoned we could potentially use it for shelter if we need." Oliver explained, and was met with a moment of silence. Then jumped out of his skin when a warm hand landed on his forehead.

"Are you ill?" Felicity quipped, playing at checking his temperature. "Because you just correctly answered my references."

"Ha, ha." Oliver deadpanned, prying her fingers off his forehead, but kept hold of her hand as he lay it against his stomach. They continued for a good half an hour, surprisingly coming across no patroling guards, either. This is around the time Oliver looked up and noticed the darkening skies. A storm was coming. If the way the wind was picking up was any indication, it was coming in fast. They needed to get back to that cabin.

"Storm's coming, looks like we'll get to see if that cabin's abandoned after all." Oliver spoke aloud as he wheeled the horse around and started it back along the path they'd just come down. He felt the pressure of Felicity's head sink into his upper back as she muttered something about rain being the last thing they needed. He squeezed the hand he still held and kept the horse on the path to the cottage, to best of his recollections anyhow.

Which proved spot on, because just as the rain started to fall, the small cottage came into view. Oliver urged the horse forward all the way close to the door, then reached back to help Felicity down.

"Computer horse or not, she needs out of the rain, too." Felicity spoke, patting Strings on the nose even as she shivered because with the rain and the wind it was kind of, well, cold.

"I'll take care of it, don't worry. Why don't you head on in and see if you can find some blankets or something." Oliver encouraged her, shooing her towards the door. She reluctantly nodded and headed inside, glancing at him again before she passed the threshold. Oliver didn't really want to leave her alone too long, either, so he made quick work of getting the horse into the barn and stripping it of the tack. He placed the saddle and blanket over a stall wall to dry, then made sure the horse had some hay and water, then quickly ran back to the cabin.

When he entered and did not see Felicity right away, a cold icy fear slithered through his bones.

What if he'd just unknowingly had her walk into a trap? What if she was kidnapped and taken back to the tower, how would he get her back then, with only himself here? The prospect of them being in this game together but not in the same area did not at all sit well with him. He had to know where she was at all times, for his own sanity if nothing else. He was just about to call out for her when he heard a thump from above and saw her feet appear on the step ladder off to the side, leading to what Oliver assumed was the attic.

"There you are." Oliver said, grinning as he came to stand just under the ladder, one hand blindly reaching out for it. Felicity squeaked and her foot missed its step and down she went. Thankfully Oliver was right there to catch her, however the items in her hands were now fated to meet the wooden floor with a loud crash. She sighed and placed a hand on Oliver's chest as she looked up at him apologetically.

"I was feeling kinda hungry, and I saw this jar up there with like dried berries in it...and then an old, dusty blanket too, but it sure wasn't a good cushion." Felicity said, wrinkling her nose. Oliver bit back a smile at the sight.

But then...

'Donna' appeared.

"Oh, dear dear, oh dear me, no." 'Donna' tsked and shook her head, frowning at the two. "That was really not very nice, baby girl. And I did warn you." The woman sighed, then continued, "That jar never stood a chance. Destruction of property. Second offense. That means two hours in the dungeon, baby." 'Donna' frowned at Felicity. Oliver looked bewildered, his gaze rapidly moving from the woman in his arms to the one standing before them.

"Second? What's she mean?" Oliver asked, having heard nothing about this incident from Felicity and not liking how this was sounding, not one bit.

"I may have...made a leaning tower of chairs to reach that window to escape from in the tower, and it may have fallen and broken some chairs..." Felicity trailed off, wincing at the look on Oliver's face.

"You should've told me, then I-" whatever he was planning on saying, was cut off by 'Donna.'

"After the two hours are over, she will be released. The dungeons are not the easiest place to get out of, though." She continued, shaking her head and then shrugging. Oliver tightened his hold around Felicity; there was no way she was going anywhere without him.

"Take me, too. If she goes, I go." Oliver spoke in an almost growl, and he noted how Felicity's hand tightened its grip on his shirt, too. She was scared, he could tell.

"Oh, but dear, you've not done anything wrong." 'Donna' said with false cheer, smiling. "Why would you want to go to such a dark, damp, smelly place? You don't need to go, only the princess. Say goodbye, now, for the time being at least." She smiled again, then snapped her fingers.

"Oliv-!" Felicity's voice was cut off, and in the next moment, she disappeared from his arms.


	7. Chapter 7

I'm sorry this update was so late! Life gets busy and I was having some writer's block with this chapter...I really hope y'all enjoy it. Not entirely sure if it is up to the wait, but here it is nonetheless! Big Thank you to everyone reading this~

* * *

Oliver choked on air as he fell a step forward, the sudden loss of Felicity's weight from his arms leaving him unbalanced. She was gone - his girl was gone! He let his arms fall to his sides as he glanced around the cabin, considering his next course of action. Namely, how he would get himself to wherever Felicity had been taken.

'Donna' had said second offense. Her first 'offense,' if one could call it that, must have been the broken chairs before she'd met up with him, then. And there was a lonely looking chair, right in the corner of this room. He walked over to it, picked it up, and smashed it against the wall. Repeatedly. It felt pretty good, actually, getting some of this anger out...

As expected, 'Donna' appeared. And she looked very displeased.

"Prince Queen, that is not how you are supposed to use a chair; even with your time away, you must realize this. So, first offense. You get a warning. Second will be two hours in dungeon, third is deletion. I would be careful if I were you, sir." She said, and as she was speaking, he'd dropped the chair and looked around for something else to break.

There was a porcelain water pitcher sitting innocently on a stand along the back wall. Perfect. Oliver grabbed it and threw it to the ground at the Admin's feet. 'Donna' looked at it, then scowled up at him. "You did that on purpose." She accused, and he had no wish to deny it.

"I told you - where she goes, I go. Two hours in the dungeon, right? That was my second offense, so take me to her." Oliver demanded, stepping right up to the woman. 'Donna' frowned at him, then shrugged.

"Fine. Second offense, dungeon time. I still don't see why you would want to, though, and oh - do be careful on your way out!" 'Donna' smiled sweetly at him, then snapped her fingers and darkness closed in.

* * *

"-ver! Ah!" Felicity yelped, flinching as she suddenly found herself sitting on a cold stone floor. In the middle of what she supposed was an old-fashion jail cell? As far as cells went, this one actually seemed rather spacious. Sure, it had a lump of hay instead of a bed, and shackles adoring the back wall at both arm and ankle height, but it was still a large room.

Scrambling to her feet because, ew, this place was dirty and her golden dress wasn't so golden anymore, Felicity stepped up to the thick iron bars in front of her. Directly across from her, there was another empty cell looking much like the one she was in, and glancing to the side, she could see at least two others stretching out on either side to her right. To her left, she saw a staircase leading upwards into darkness, the hallway only lit by the firelight flickering from the candle holders placed every so often along the walls. That candle light was actually the only source of light in the entire place, it seemed.

This was going to be a lonely, somewhat dark, and long, long two hours. And she didn't even have a tablet. Felicity heaved a sigh and settled herself in to wait. While she waited, though, the best use of her time would be in exploring the cell and seeing if there were weaknesses anywhere. So, she got to it.

Not even three minutes later, Oliver suddenly found himself standing in the cell across from Felicity's. He arrived with out a sound, so she did not automatically notice him. A quick glance around proved him to be alone and in no immediate danger, so he stepped up to the bars to make his presence known. They were in seperate cells, but he felt an immense relief at just having eyes on her again.

"Felicity," he whispered, lifting his hands to grip the iron bars on his end. Her head whipped up from where she was studying something on the floor, and even in the limited light he could see her eyes widen. She hurried over to the front of her cell, leaning her head against the bars and gripping them much as he was doing.

"Oliver, you're here!" She grinned excitedly, then dropped her head and narrowed her eyes. "You purposefully broke stuff, didn't you?" She asked, sounding very unimpressed. Oliver's response was a shamless shrug and a small smile.

"I needed to make sure you were ok." Oliver whispered, his blue eyes drilling into hers. Even from this distance and with the low lighting, there was no mistaking the intensity in that gaze. Felicity sucked in a quick breath, because there was a lot of unspoken meaning in that gaze - and she couldn't help but to wonder...if he really meant for her to see those emotions that were starting to show. If she really thought about it, this wasn't such a new thing, for this intensity between them, but there seemed something new and different about it now.

"I don't normally condone needless destruction, but...thank you. I really don't want to be alone right now." Felicity confessed in a whisper, looking a little contrite. Oliver's smile grew.

"It wasn't needless," he told her with a decisive shake of his head, "and you never need to thank me, Felicity." Oliver held her gaze for a moment until she blushed and looked down. "Now, why don't we try and find a way out of here, hm?" He concluded, and glancing up at him with her cheeks still flushed, Felicity nodded and stepped back from the bars to continue her search.

About an hour and forty five minutes later, and we find the fearless archer still trying to find a secrect passage way or some piece of stone he could loosen enough to get an escape route started. Or something like that, Felicity had kind of fazed out over an hour ago. Now she just sat, leaning against the bars and watching Oliver work. Rubbing her temple against the cool metal because it helped her headache ever so slightly. It was a little bit mesmerizing, honestly, watching him trying to find a way out. When he started to literally climb the walls, though, she began to worry for his safety.

"Hey. Be careful, over there." Felicity finally called over, and winced and made a worried noise in the back of her throat when she saw him slip. It wasn't a long way back down to the floor however, but still. Like a cat, Mr. Queen landed in his feet, because of course he would. Oliver placed one hand on the wall, then looked over at Felicity. She bit her lip, then decided to voice what was on her mind.

"I'm really glad you're here." She said on a sigh, tilting her head as she looked at him. Oliver let his hand drop and headed back over to the bars.

"No where else I'd rather be." He replied, smiling at her as he took a seat and leaned the side of his head against the bars.

"Not even a nice, friendly tropical beach at happy hour?" Felicity teased, pulling a smile from the both of them.

"Only if you're there with me." Oliver found himself saying; he hadn't exactly meant to say that so...mushy-like, but he wasn't about to take it back. And all the effort he had spent all this time in trying to figure a way out? Yeah, well, that was in large part due to the fact that he needed something to distract himself from the fact that he could not physically get to Felicity at the moment, and it was killing him. Sure, she seemed fine, looked fine, but there was no substitute for her to physically be by his side - he craved her presence, and when she had been taken right out from his arms like that, it had almost broken something within him.

He was beginning to realize just what this woman meant to him, and though he would always fear for her safety...they were never promised another day, not with the lives that they led. He knew he always felt better being by her side, knowing right where she was, and he was beginning to realize, that maybe, she did too.

Felicity had pursed her lips and looked down, unsure what to make of his words, so she offered no comment. All too soon and at the same time not nearly soon enough, there was a popping sound and slowly the door to Felicity's cell creaked open. She stood, dusting the seat of her dress off as she cautiously approached the door, noting from the corner of her eye that Oliver had stood up, too.

"Huh. It was on a timer, I guess?" Felicity questioned to herself, stepping out of the cell but staying by the door, trying to find the hidden catch mechanism. She couldn't see anything that indicated a timer, either, but then she supposed a virtual world didn't have to make total sense. She looked up to her partner in prison, and smiled softly as she approached.

"Just a few more minutes, now." Felicity smiled up at him. Oliver reached through the bars and cupped the side of her face.

"How's your head?" He asked softly, stroking his thumb along her upper cheekbone.

"Still hurts." She admitted, scrunching up her nose in distaste. "I really miss modern medicine." She added, causing Oliver to huff a laugh. Which, in turn, brought another smile to her face, because his laughs were a rare thing. She reached up and placed her hand over his on her cheek, threading their fingers together.

"Felicity, -" Oliver started, the one word he was able to get out rich with feeling, but alas. He was cut off because his door made that same popping sound. Before it could creak itself open, Oliver was there and pushing against it. Then, Felicity was in his arms and he was pulling her to him, breathing her in. The familiar and comforting scent of her shampoo and perfume were sadly lacking in this world, but it was still a great comfort to have her living, breathing form in his arms. He pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Time to go, huh?" Felicity asked, peeking up at him. Oliver sighed and pressed their foreheads together, one part of him never wanting to move (ever), and the other part of him wanting to get them both the heck out of dodge. That second part won out.

"Yeah," he whispered, then leaned back, grabbed her hand, and started to lead them up the darkened staircase.

There were words burning on his chest, though, and he had to...attempt this.

"Felicity," he started as they climbed the steps, his tone almost conversational in style. "There is...we should talk, when this, thing, is over with." He paused and looked back to her, seeing her wide eyes fixed upon his. He lowered his gaze to their joined hands, and swept his thumb over the back of her hand. "I...this. I want...more of this. I want you next to me, always." He held up their hands, and continued to tenderly stroke the back of hers. "If you want it, too, I mean." He added in a low whisper, and Felicity had to bite her lip to keep from shouting out an immediate answer that yes, she did!

"I really don't want our first kiss to be a virtual one." Came out in a rush instead, and his blinding smile was totally worth it. And she really, really did want to kiss him right now.

"Let's get out of here, then." Oliver grinned and led them around the corner, sunlight suddenly invading the darkness. Once their eyes adjusted, Oliver tightened his hold on Felicity's hand, because...they were standing at the edge of a cliff. Literally. The stairs suddenly ended, and there was a cliff - and a long way down to the very rocky shores at the bottom! Glancing to his left, Oliver noted the steps that had been carved into the rock wall, leading up to what he supposed was level ground again.

"Seems to be the only way up," Oliver commented slowly, taking in their surroundings. Felicity frowned, leaning forward to glance over the edge, then instantly regretting it.

"Are you sure? I mean, maybe there is another way out of the dungeon, we could go back-" Felicity gulped, but Oliver was not having it. He turned her to look at him and not the drop.

"Felicity. Hang on to me, and you will not fall." He assured her, looking deep into her eyes. "I promise, I'm not going to let you fall." He should've learned by now, not to make promises he couldn't keep, despite best intentions.

"I trust you." She finally squeaked out, her hand holding his in a death grip, her other hand closing over his upper arm on the other side.

He smiled at her, "That's my girl."

And then...surpise! Guess who suddenly appeared?

'Donna,' of course. She materialized right next to them at the entrance of the dungeon, clicking her tongue as she shook her head at the two, though she was smiling. "Prince Oliver Queen. It has certainly taken you long enough, but here we are. At last, you're realizing what my girl means to you. Letting someone in, even though you are scared. That's what love's about, not to mention the trust needed on both sides. Trust, love, expressing these in words, and having it returned - that was your mission. Congratulations, you're finally starting to get your head out of your rear. You may wake up now, dear." 'Donna' crinkled a smile then waved and disappeared, leaving them to clean up the mess left behind.

And what a mess. Because, right when 'Donna' appeared...well, Felicity had been startled, simple enough. The mess started when she forgot where they were standing, let go of Oliver, and took a step back.

Oliver's full attention had been on 'Donna' and at first he did not feel his blonde partner start to slip away. She'd released his arm as soon as her not-mother appeared, but he still had hold of her hand - or so he had thought. It wasn't until movement caught his gaze and he saw her arms pinwheeling that he realized the trouble she was in. He lunged for her but by this time 'Donna' was finished with her little speech and had disappeared, and now so was Oliver, whether he liked it or not.

"Felicity!" He yelled, grabbing at her hands, her arms, anything. Except, he couldn't make contact, because his hands were already starting to disappear. He was waking up, ready or not, and there was nothing he could do to save her. Frightened blue eyes met stormy ones, and time itself seemed to pause, everything went still...and then she tipped backwards.

She was falling, and he could not help her.

She was falling, and there were only jagged rocks to cushion that fall.

She was falling, likely to her virtual death, so what would that mean for her real life, her body back home? Would she wake up, or would this be the last time he ever saw her?

 _"FELICITY!"_

All these thoughts went by in a flash, and before he knew it, Oliver had jumped over the side, too, and was following her down even as his body was disappearing. If he could just do something, anything...

And then she smiled at him. She had to be scared out of her mind, and she was smiling at him. "It was worth it. Everything." He heard her whisper over the sound of rushing air as they fell, and then darkness over took him and he knew no more. Her smiling lips betrayed the terror in her eyes, and that was something that would be seared into his memory for a long, long time...

For her part, as soon as Oliver had disappeared completely, Felicity let her smile fall and she closed her eyes. She had no desire to meet her virtual death with such visual. She could pretend, maybe for a moment, that she was with her team again.

It was a shame she didn't have her eyes open, because she missed the sudden change of scenery around her. Namely, how the rocky shores suddenly turned into a wide, deep, but gently flowing river.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm sorry this is a little shorter...and next chapter should be the last one. This chapter explains a few things, I hope it is satisfactory in some way haha. If you have questions please ask them. Also another note that I don't know anything about virtual realities and how the body is affected, but creative license and all that, muaha. Ahem.

Thank you so much to everyone reading this!

Happy reading~

* * *

Oliver awoke with a jerk. That was often the way with him these days, there was nothing gradual about his waking up. There was a difference in this feeling, though..something was not quite right. His eyes flew open to meet the concerned gaze of his sister, Thea, staring down at him. She looked worried, why was she worried?

There was an urgency in his blood, an instinct telling him to move, to get up, to...

Felicity.

It all came rushing back to him then - 'Donna' appearing, the blonde falling, him unable to reach her...what had happened? Was she still alive?

Oliver sat up so fast Thea had to take a step back to avoid any flying body parts. When he felt a tug at his hand, he spared no time in ripping out the IV there, and any other wires that got in his way. When he moved to step down from the pod, Thea immediately put up a restraining hand to his chest - or attempted to.

"Whoa, whoa - you just woke up. Digg and Roy both needed a moment before standing, it's really not wise to-"

"I need to see her, Speedy. Is she-?" His voice more gravely than usual with having been asleep so long, he couldn't even finish his question because he was suddenly doubled over and leaning heavily on the side of the pod. Whether it was more emotional or physical pain remained to be seen, though most likely it was a combination of both that led to his sudden breathlessness.

"She's fine, her vitals are solid. Both your heart rates kicked up pretty high right before your pod opened..." Digg trailed off, raising a concerned brow. Roy looked more disgusted than concerned, muttering,

"I don't think we wanna know." Arms crossed, he sounded much like a petulant child, but really with just the two of them in there - no, he didn't want to know what 'mom and dad' got up to.

"She fell," Oliver stated, and the three standing around him sobered very quickly at the haunted look in his eyes. "We were...thrown in the dungeon, and the only exit led you out by a cliff. Then Donna appeared, and...she fell. I couldn't stop her, Digg." Oliver briefly glanced at the man in question before inhaling deeply and closing his eyes. He'd not cry, not right here in front of them. No, he had to be strong. If for no one else, he had to be strong for her, for when she came back. Because she would be coming back. When his eyes opened again, they had a much more detirmined gleam in them.

"Where is she?" He asked, glancing at Roy but facing Digg. It was Thea who answered,

"Right here. We've got a chair, and everything." She said, waving at the chair just behind her with a small smirk.

"You know how she had a headache?" Diggle was quick to interject, keeping a close eye on Oliver as he got to his feet and shuffled over to the chair. Having been immobile for close to 48 hours now, his legs were like jelly; he'd had worse, though. Digg waited for Oliver to acknowledge him before continuing, "Well, there's a reason for that."

Oliver looked confused until he sat down and looked into the pod in front of him. There was a red substance coating one side of her face, trailing down to her neck - the side she'd complained of paining her. He was suddenly seeing red, too, but for a different reason.

"Do we know where?" Oliver seethed, hands curling into fists. He didn't have to explain another word, because Digg knew what he meant.

"Not yet, Lyla's been using her ARGUS connections and we've got Laurel and Ray on it, too." At this information, Oliver shot a look at Digg over his shoulder, to which the man replied,

"Hey, man, if not for those two we'd probably never have been found. We'd have been all on our own and there's no telling who could've come in." Digg responded, bristling slightly. Oliver huffed and returned his attention to the sleeping blonde.

Time went by, meaning nothing to the man sitting in the chair, waiting for the pod to release her. Only the scenery changed - a chair was set next to his and periodically, the person in it would change, and only once did Thea try to force him to eat or drink anything. He did take the water bottle, however, but the protein bar lay uneaten at his feet. He would not move from here until he knew that she was safe, or until they had a location and someone for him to put the fear of God into.

And then the monitors watching over her vitals started to shriek.

* * *

Falling... It was such a weightless sensation.

One could let one's thoughts wander where they would - like, to the fact that she should've taken that virtual kiss when she had the chance, because it was looking as though it might be the only chance she'd ever get. Virtually kissing him was better than not at all.

What was with his mission, anyway? Loving, expressing it, and being loved in return?

If all she'd ever get was his virtual love, she would've taken it. It sounded as if he wished it in real life, too, but she knew how these things could change...if she ever woke up, that was.

 _SPLASH!_

Felicity's sudden immersion into the cold water cut her thoughts off abruptly, also stealing her air. The cold sting of the water had made her lungs contract without her consent, and now she feared - if the fall wasn't going to kill her, it looked like the water would.

Eyes snapping open, she tried to claw her way to the surface, but it was like her arms were made of lead. She couldn't breathe, could hardly move...she was drowning.

One way or the other, it looked like this virtual world had it in for her.

All of a sudden, there was an arm thrust down into the waters from the surface, stretching out towards her. Not thinking twice, Felicity reached out and attached herself to it. The arm pulled her up, and before she knew it, she'd broken the surface and was coughing up lung fulls of water on the bank. When she could finally breathe again, she looked up to thank her saviour. Recognizing him, she balked awkwardly before getting the word out,

"Dad?"

He looked just as she remembered him, exactly how he'd appeared in those old pictures she'd seen in her early teenage years. Well, she supposed, if one could write oneself into a computer program, why not knock a few years off?

"Felicity, my brilliant little girl." He smiled at her, and she couldn't help how her body responded in shrinking away from him.

"Why have you done this? I mean, I presume this was all you - and making my mother the admin cop! Locking me in a tower! How dare you, sir. Not to mention, how exactly did you manage to kidnap and/or knock us all out in order to get us here?" Felicity asked, all the questions and accusations leaving her in a rush. Noah smiled and rocked back on his heels, sitting down across from her.

"Such fire - I like seeing you haven't changed much, dear. Let's see." He paused, thinking of how he wanted to answer. "Yes, of course I did this. Why is because I wanted to show you in my own way how much I love you, how special you are. You see what all your friends were willing to do for you? I don't think that they treat you as well as they should, Little One, so I had to intervene some and show them. And I know you like that Queen boy - did you like that I made you both royalty? He needed a bit of a prod, so I gave him one." Noah, her father, started to explain rather gleefully. "I'm sorry if I scared any of you, it wasn't really my intention. Sometimes, however, sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

Felicity sat there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say. Her mouth had actually fallen open, because seriously? All of this, just to get to her? Her father really was mentally ill. "You did this - what? To benefit me?" She asked quietly, still in disbelief.

"Well, yes and no. I started writing this program to see if I could do it, then when I thought of possibly sharing it, you were the first one I thought of. I never really wanted to leave you, you know. And I thought you might enjoy having some familiar faces with you." Noah sighed lightly and raised a hand to touch her cheek. She actually recoiled from him, frowning at him.

"How did - how did you find us?"

"Oh, baby, it wasn't difficult. A little hacking into CCTV cameras here and there revealed your little vigilante team." Noah confessed, shaking his head. Felicity went even more rigid than before, if possible. "From there, it wasn't hard to put together a red herring, one you would be needed for. You all fell for it quite beautifully, might I add. I waited until you and the last one went into the building, then I sealed the doors and windows and released a fast-acting knockout gas into the ventilation system. The four of you dropped like flies - I am sorry about your head, though. Your head hit the side of a nasty table as you fell. That was not my intention, but the show must go on." Noah said, a large frown marring his face. Felicity glared at him.

"So, you're telling me that I have a head injury and that's why I have a constant headache here? Ugh. Figures." Felicity grumbled, rubbing at her temples. Then she straightened up and said, "Ok, so. This whole thing was a very misguided father-daughter bonding thing. I'm here, you're here, can I wake up now?" She asked, frowning at him again.

"I...I'm really not sure if I want you to wake up just yet." Noah confessed, looking over her with such a fake fondness that Felicity wanted to lose the contents of her stomach. Maybe it wasn't really fake fondness, but it sure had a side of crazy that she really didn't want to contemplate. These were her genes, after all. And they said geniuses were more likely to go crazy than normal people with normal brain functions, right? She did not want to take a ride on that crazy train - she was close enough as it was.

"You see," Noah went on, seeming hesitant all of a sudden. "I did not have time to research how your body and mind will react to the waking up process. With the likely hood of your concussion, as well as probable bloodloss, I really don't know what will happen. The transition from virtual to awake can be disorienting, I do not know how a concussion would complicate that. I'm amazed you took so well to the game in the first place, really." He explained, and for all the world, actually looked like he was genuinely concerned about her. It made her fume inside. Rising to her feet, she said,

"Get me out of here now! My friends are no doubt very worried about me - and I mean, hey, this place is really cool, it's really amazing that you were able to do all this, but please! Wake. Now. I'll take my chances, Noah." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "And for the record - most parents show they care by phone calls. Or gift baskets." Pause. "Like, candy gift baskets." She muttered, grimacing as her mouth seemed to keep going.

"I really don't think that's a good idea, dear." Noah said, standing as well. "We could really do anything here - I chose medieval because of your friends' choice of weaponry, but I can rewrite to whatever you wish. Didn't you notice my lovely save when you fell?" He asked, sweeping his hand to to the gently flowing river. Felicity looked over and did a double take - she did wonder how she'd survived that...there were no rocky shores here anymore. She wondered how he was able to do that from in the game...or had he just entered it now that she was alone?

"Thanks for that, but I still want to wake up. Please. My friends will be worried." She held fast, staring her father down. Finally, Noah sighed.

"Fine. But don't say I did not warn you, Little One." Noah said sadly, then smiled and stepped foreward to plant a kiss on her forehead. She stood rigidly still and allowed it, better for him to show affection now than in real life...the sooner they got this over with, the sooner she could wake up and get back to her team.

"Be safe." Noah said in parting, then disappeared.

Actually, everything disappeared.

Her heart rate shot up as darkness closed in around her, and a vague awareness came over her...her limbs were numb, and tired, and tingly...and her head really. Really. Hurt.

Lifting her hands to her head, she sucked in a quick breath as intense pain washed over her. Moments later, thankfully, blissful unconsciousness beckoned her and she gratefully fell into its waiting arms.


	9. Chapter 9

And so here we have it! The final chapter. Hopefully it doesn't feel too rushed; more notes after.

Also. Because I'm clearly an idiot and forgot to mention anything earlier. I own nothing except this crazy idea.

* * *

The pop and hiss noise of Felicity's pod opening was drowned out by the alarm going off from her life support systems. It was yelling at them that something wasn't right, and Oliver was suitability freaking out.

"John!" Oliver thundered, rising to his feet and clawing at the lid of the pod. He had no idea where his friend was or what to do, he only knew he had to get Felicity out of there.

Or would it be better to leave her in, hooked to an IV?

But the alarms were going off. And he had no idea what, exactly, was in that IV.

Diggle was beside him in half a second, and together they pried the lid up and Oliver was reaching in to disconnect Felicity from all the wires and carefully lift her limp form into his arms.

"Her blood pressure has dropped to dangerous levels, that's why the alarms went off." Digg informed him as Oliver secured the blonde in his arms - the blood from her head wound was mostly dry by now but all this moving her about might open it fresh again; he did not care what got on his jacket so long as she was alright in the end - and Oliver gave Diggle a side glance to let him know he was listening. "Her pulse rate is...not good, Oliver. She needs to get to a hospital, now."

"We can't take care of it?" Oliver asked quietly, feeling the weight of the woman in his arms. A flash back to when she'd disappeared from his arms and they both ended up in that dungeon made him unconsciously tighten his hold. He already almost lost her once today - he was not sure if he could go through that again. And he was still dressed in his Arrow gear, he and Roy both. He couldn't follow her, not right away. Thing was, he couldn't Not be at her side, either. The minutes it would take for him to find street clothes and change just might actually kill him. He softly repeated his friends nickname as he shifted his bundle closer to his chest, looking up at the big black man with the most sorrowful face Diggle had ever seen.

"We don't have the blood volume enhancers she'll need," John whispered in response, "Plus the x-rays that may be needed for her head, and whatever other damage may have been sustained there. She needs a real doctor, Oliver."

"I already called an ambulance." Thea spoke up, materializing at his side. She reached up on her tip toes and tugged his hood forward so that it would completely hide his face once more. "All they need to know is that she was knocked out, kidnapped and left alone for 48 hours. That's what I'll tell them when they ask. And it'll explain the Arrow's presence here." She told them, then turned her brother towards the exit and put pressure on his shoulders until he started walking.

Oliver clung tightly to the unconscious Felicity, one arm under her knees and the other round her upper back, his face pressed down towards the shoulder that was not against his chest. Eyes closed, he breathed her in, the real scent of the woman he cared so much for, and shuddered. He could feel her weak breaths against the side of his face, and he prayed for those lungs to keep working, that heart to keep beating. It had to, because he would be lost without her.

Oliver looked up and all of a sudden he was outside. It wasn't even nighttime - the sun was shining and he hated it. How dare it shine when this woman was in such a state, possibly breathing her last? The sky should be dark and weeping, should be reflecting his own emotions. Because if she died...

His thoughts were thankfully interrupted by the ambulance screeching to a halt right in front of him, EMTs jumping out of the back with a stretcher. It was time to let her go, but he just couldn't. The emergency personnel were now standing before him, yelling at him, but he couldn't make out a single word. One of them, a female, reached out for the woman in his arms. Panic flashed through him and he took a step back, holding Felicity closer. He couldn't, they would have to treat her in his arms, because he just couldn't...

Then a hand put pressure on his shoulder, and he knew what Digg was trying to communicate. He needed to give her over to the ones that could provide the care she needed. He still wasn't sure if he could, but, she needed him to do this. He had to try.

Ignoring the personnel, he stepped forward, up to the side of the gurney. Sparing one last lingering look at the blonde in his arms, he started to gently lay her down. He made sure her head, arms, and legs would not be at any kind of an odd angle, then he slowly withdrew from her. One moment he was staring at his blonde laid out on the gurney, the next he was staring at empty space. He turned and watched them load her into the back of the ambulance, and felt his heart break.

"Ollie...Oliver!" Thea actually had to flick at his forehead to get him to stop staring at where the ambulance had disappeared to down the block. He quickly whipped his head around to stare at his sister.

"Roy's brought your spare clothes here, and Lyla just showed up with the van. You can change on the way." Oliver smiled thinly at his sister's thoughtfulness, and reached out to give her shoulder an affectionate squeeze. Then, with John driving and the clothes he needed in his hands, Oliver climbed into the back of the van and nodded his thanks to the others before he closed the doors.

In record time he was in jeans and a polo shirt and striding into the Emergency entrance of the hospital. She was no where to be seen, however, and he felt his heart start to sink when they told him to wait and pointed him to the proper room. Twenty minutes later and the entire team, plus Captain Lance, Ray, Lyla and Thea were seated around him. Once he heard who had been brought in, Quentin had hitched a ride with Laurel and now here they all were.

It took another hour before any news was heard. A nurse came in to inform them that she was stable, her pulse much stronger and she was just now coming out from getting x-rayed. As soon as she was set up in a room, they'd allow one or two in at a time to see her. Oliver didn't care who the second person would be, but he sure as heck was gonna be the first. And they would have to physically remove him if there was a time limit on these visits.

Unless they found out where Noah was hiding. Then he'd gladly leave to pay that dude a visit.

Several minutes later, and Diggle is by his side as they head toward Felicity's room. And there she is, extremely pale and hooked up to more machines, but she was alive and breathing on her own and Oliver felt something unwind within him. He finally relaxed, just a little, because he knew she would survive this. She'd have to wake up and smile at him before he would start believing that the worst was behind them, but this was a very good start. There was a chair next to the bed, and John directed Oliver into it.

Oliver's gaze stayed fixed on Felicity's form, his hand blindly reaching out to grasp onto her fingers. Lukewarm fingers. He glanced down at her hand and then covered her small hand with his larger one. She'd be cold in here, when she woke up, he knew this somehow. Warming up one of her hands - the one not containing the hospital IV - was the least he could do. His gaze returned to her face.

The other visiters came in and out of the room every few minutes or so, may have even tried to talk to him, but Oliver wasn't paying them much attention. His sole focus was on the blonde in the bed and willing her to wake up and tell him herself that she was ok, that he was silly for worrying over her, that she still felt the same and would be accepting that kiss now. Oliver startled when a hand suddenly came down on his shoulder. He looked up to see a man in a white lab coat looking down at him, file in hand.

"I've come to discuss the x-ray results, Mr. Queen. Would you care to step out into the hallway for a moment?" The man asked, glancing at a nurse behind him.

No, he would not care to.

"Sure." He mumbled, giving one last, forlorn look to the still sleeping blonde. Then, very reluctantly, he rose and followed the doctor out.

"We can discuss this here, or we can go back to the waiting room so your friends can hear as well." The doctor began, putting on a pleasant smile. Oliver wanted to shake him. If possible, his heart sunk even more, because, there was something to discuss? He licked his lips and rubbed his thumb and finger together, considering his options, and not liking any of them.

"It's good news, Mr. Queen." The doctor rushed to add, seeing the look on Oliver's face. He decided to just go ahead with his information, "She does have a concussion, but the x-rays revealed no breaks or serious fractures. She will need plenty of bed rest to heal and regain her strength, and we have a recommended diet plan to give you that will help her naturally strengthen her red blood count - foods rich in iron and such - and she may be released soon after she wakes up. Provided there is someone she can stay with; with the concussion and weakness from the blood loss, she really should not be alone right now."

Oliver nodded, "She won't be." He didn't care what the others thought - he would be staying with her. He'd pretty much been planning on it before, anyway, but now it was doctors orders.

It was another hour and a half before she woke up, but the smile she flashed him as soon as she realized who it was at her bedside made everything else worth it. Then he, Diggle, and Roy took turns explaining what had happened and any head way that was made on finding her father. Which, well there wasn't any. Then Oliver held tight to her hand as she explained her final moments in the game and the discussion she'd had with her father.

"Knock out gas. Should've known." Roy mumbled, looking at the floor.

"He put you in danger, Felicity. That is something I cannot forgive, misguided good intentions or not." Oliver spoke lowly, but all three heard him.

"I'm not asking you to forgive him. Just, please...if I find him, don't kill him?" Felicity asked, blinking tiredly at him. He squeezed her hand and nodded his assent.

"You mean, when." Diggle added, smiling at their girl. She smiled softly in return.

"So, when do I get to go home?" She asked, glancing from Oliver to Diggle and back.

"Soon. They want someone there with you, so I'll be taking you home." Oliver told her, his eyes meeting hers. She stared at him, gulped, and then nodded. She was too tired to argue that that may not be the best idea ever...but if they were going to talk about what happened in the game, and if he was just going to try to let her down easy, it was best to do that with as few witnesses as possible. Like, maybe just the two of them. Yeah.

Diggle looked as though he agreed with her assessment that this wasn't the best idea ever, but he stayed quiet.

At length, they finally released her, and then it was dark outside by the time Oliver pulled the car Digg had brought for him up to the patient loading zone. Within minutes, she was escorted out in the obligatory wheelchair, and the nice nurse lady was helping her into the car. After handing off the sheets of instructions on care and diet plans, she closed the door and off they went.

"You didn't have to, you know." Felicity spoke up after a few minutes of silence. Oliver glanced over at her in confusion.

"Do what?"

"Agree to take me home. Agree to stay. Sit beside my bed for hours on end, just to give me company. You pick." She said on a sigh, turning her head away.

"I did all those things because I wanted to." Oliver told her, his voice quiet but the emotions on display in his tone quite fierce. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he confessed, much more quietly, "I needed to. When you fell..." he started, but had to stop. He was getting choked up at the memory, and he had to focus on driving at the moment.

A small hand came to rest on his arm. He glanced over at her.

"I'm sorry I scared you." She began, looking at him apologetically. "And I thank you for all you've done for me, but if this is some misplaced sense of obligation towards me and my part in the team..." Felicity paused, because Oliver was rapidly shaking his head.

"I told you, you never need to thank me. And its not..." Oliver broke off, unsure how to put this, unsure of what he wanted to say. Finally, he let one hand go from the wheel and searched to find hers, grasping it tightly. "Felicity, I meant what I said. In the game. I want...to try, with you. If you do, too, I mean." He said, ending a little awkwardly. Felicity was quiet for a moment, and Oliver could feel his nervousness right down to his bones.

Did she not mean it, in the game? Did he read it wrong somehow? This was one relationship he could not mess up, and was he already...

The feeling of lips grazing his cheek was more than sufficient to distract his spiraling thoughts. He glanced over at her to see her grinning at him.

"I can't wait for our first true, non-virtual kiss." She said, sticking her tongue out at him. It made him want to pull the car over and give her that kiss, though the were almost to her town home. "You should know, though, Oliver." She began again, suddenly serious. "In any world, virtual or not, I will always be yours." A quick look into her eyes and he could feel a warmth spreading, seeping deep into his heart, because he knew that she meant it. Every word. And it completely thrilled him. He could feel the fire down to his toes.

It was a good thing he'd just slid the car into the last parking spot in front of her house, because that kiss could no longer wait. It was a good ten minutes before they finally exited the car and he helped her up the walkway to her town home, the both of them grinning from ear to ear.

The next day Felicity was able to take up the scent of her father's electronic trail, but by this time he was, unfortunately, long in the wind. Every path she took led to a dead end; Noah Kuttler could not be found.

* * *

So there we have it - I know usually with concussions they have you stay over night, but I figure it is night when they let her go plus they don't really like having Oliver there glowering all the time so they allowed it this time. And well, I never meant for them to capture or otherwise actually deal with Noah in real life in this, so I didn't do that and I hope that isn't too disappointing for folks. However, this does not mean that I am ever planning on writing a sequel, I think this stands on its own pretty well. I've got a more lengthy 'Looking After You' that I'm currently writing and will possibly turn it into its own thing because it is...a little bit different. More dark, kinda. But! I wanted to share this because I am working on a new, totally unrelated multi chapter fic,

 **Title:** A Cowboy Has Got to Ride

 **Synopsis:** Oliver Queen is a bareback bronc rider, who used to be as renoud for his exploits in the arena as he was for those outside of it. In more recent years, events have led him to be someone else entirely. The news of his father's tragic death calls him back home, this time to stay. Felicity Smoak is an up-and-coming barrel racer, who chose Star City as the next stepping stone in her career. But when she starts getting more wins than not, someone wants her out of the race.

So that's a small taste...let me know what ya think and hopefully expect it out within the next few weeks or so, and as always thank you so very much to everyone who has taken the time to kudos, comment, and/or bookmark this! :D


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